The University of Oklahoma is developing an aerospace defense master's degree in the Price College of Business that could be ready for students in 2019 or 2020, according to industry leaders familiar with the program.

Officials from the university are only in the planning stages but are moving fast, a process that includes speaking with the industry's corporate representatives working in Oklahoma.

School districts in Edmond and Norman are moving forward with bond elections in February that will pay for new schools, storm shelters and security upgrades if approved by voters.

The Edmond School Board voted Monday night to advance a $93 million bond issue that would fund construction of two new elementary schools and classroom additions at several schools that would double as shelters.

Nearly $40 million would be used to purchase land and fund the construction of schools on the southwest and east sides of the district where current enrollment is at or near capacity, Superintendent Bret Towne said.

The Edmond district, which is growing at a rate of 400 to 500 students annually, already has purchased land near the intersection of Douglas Boulevard and Coffee Creek Road for one of the new schools, Towne said.

"We're trying to meet the needs of our classrooms so we don't have overcrowding and have to add portables," he said.

The company has been a staple in downtown Norman for 60 years, when Bob Calonkey, “Mister Robert,” met Sara Jean Landsaw while attending the University of Oklahoma after his service in World War II. The couple married in 1950.

Born into the furniture industry, Landsaw's family started Landsaw Furniture in Norman in 1933.

NORMAN — A Cleveland County Sheriff's dog tracked down a woman hiding inside a dog crate Wednesday after law officers said she ran from police officers who stopped three people in a stolen car, the sheriff's office reported.

Hevey, the sheriff's dog, helped lead Norman police officers and Cleveland County deputies to the woman near Cedar Lane and 48th Avenue SE.

A Norman Schools pickup was stolen from Washington Elementary School, and police pursued the pickup until the driver crashed into a tree about 10:30 a.m.

Police officers arrested two men in the pickup identified as Randy Mathias and Deron Laster.

Belinda Biscoe, senior associate vice president for OU Outreach at the University of Oklahoma, was among 14 individuals recently inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame.

NORMAN — Officials here cleared an initial hurdle this week in their hunt for a new city manager.

In a 5-4 vote Tuesday, the city council approved a $24,500 contract with Minnesota-based executive recruitment firm Springsted Waters to search for a replacement for Steve Lewis, who left the post in September for a similar job in Texas.

Springsted Waters competed against SGR, a firm based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Ward 1 Councilwoman Kate Bierman voted for Springsted Waters based on their pitch to the city.

“What struck me the most is that they sent their A squad,” Bierman told the council.

NORMAN — Three federal grants to boost success beyond high school will target 12,000 pupils in 46 schools across the state, including every sixth- and seventh-grader in the Oklahoma City Public Schools.

The University of Oklahoma K20 Center announced Wednesday it was awarded GEAR UP grants totaling $68 million to work with three cohorts of middle-schoolers — one urban, one rural and one suburban.

"This is absolutely a game-changer," said Gregg Garn, dean of the OU College of Education and executive director of the K20 Center.

"The GEAR up program is focused on getting kids ready academically, financially and emotionally to get into college and successfully graduate," Garn said.